As long as there are fools, there will be scams

I'm a barber who loves your column and listens to lots of bad-luck stories. Your October column about the church people who invested $9,000 in 1,000 U.S. $1 silver certificates prompts me to ask why so many financial scams work. A customer told me he had lost $17,000 in an oil drilling partnership that had promised him a 32 percent return. Another invested $7,000 in Iraqi dinars, losing it all, and a bowling buddy lost $11,000 trading stock options.